Tokyo: The Manga Begins with the Funeral of Frilian

Ryota Onodera's voice involuntarily rose.

"Do you know how much work this requires? We have to negotiate contracts, schedule slots, and send broadcast tapes to each local TV station individually. This is not something that a single studio can do; it's the workload of an entire broadcasting division."

"Who says only our studio is doing this?"

Shiori Shirakawa opened the folder in her hand and turned to the latest page.

"When Fujita-sensei's team was doing post-production, they got to know some heads of production departments at local TV stations. They said that local TV stations are currently lacking content for their late-night slots and can't afford big-budget programs, so they can only rebroadcast old anime. If we can provide the finished product and don't ask for broadcast fees, but only a fixed time slot, many local TV stations would actually be willing to take it on."

She then turned to the next page.

"I did the calculations carefully. If we find twenty local TV stations, each covering one county, we can cover 40% of the national audience. The cost of broadcasting in the late-night slot is almost zero. As long as we can provide the broadcast tape and subtitles, they are willing to arrange a slot for us. In addition, Mr. Fujita has also contacted an independent cinema in Kyoto. They are willing to give us a premiere screening. We can choose to premiere in a movie theater instead of on TV."

Ryota Onodera first looked at Shiori Shirakawa, then at Yuma Kamiya.

"When did you two agree on these things?"

"It was last night."

  

Shiori Shirakawa closed the folder.

"After he finished drawing the original manuscript for episode fourteen, I finished the financial statements for the month. We chatted for a while and felt that we might be able to try the local TV station route. This morning I called Mr. Fujita, and he has already started to contact relevant parties."

Ryota Onodera was silent for a moment, then took out his address book from his suit pocket, turned to a page, and picked up the phone.

"I have a college classmate in Nagoya who is now working in programming at Chubu Nippon Broadcasting. I'll give him a call and ask him how he is doing."

He was just about to dial when the doorbell rang.

Shiori Shirakawa got up to open the door.

A man wearing a dark blue work jacket was standing at the door.

His hair was a little gray, and his face was red from the wind.

His work jacket was stained with printing ink, and he was carrying a plastic bag.

"Excuse me, is this Kamiya Studio?"

The man's voice sounded somewhat hurried.

"My name is Yamazaki. Mr. Fujita asked me to deliver the master tapes for the first episode."

"Please come in."

Shiori Shirakawa stepped aside to let him in.

Yamazaki changed into slippers and walked into the living room. He saw Onodera Ryota holding a phone, Kamiya Yuma leaning back in his chair, and a list of broadcasting organizations marked with red crosses spread out on the low table.

He stood there for a moment, then placed the plastic bag on the table.

"The broadcast tape is here. Mr. Fujita said that if the TV station needs to re-edit or modify it, he can come over tonight."

No changes are needed.

Yuma Kamiya said, "We are trying to find a solution for the broadcasting channel issue."

Yamazaki nodded and turned to leave.

As he reached the entrance, he paused, turned around, and said, "Mr. Kamiya, my father ran a printing factory his whole life. He once taught me a saying: 'What is on paper, once printed, will eventually be seen by someone. Even if it's just sitting in the warehouse, someone will eventually come in and look at it.'"

He bowed, pushed open the door, and left.

Ryota Onodera looked at the closed door, picked up the receiver, and dialed a number.

"Hey, it's me, Onodera. You mentioned last time that your Chubu Nippon Broadcasting's late-night slot was looking for content, right? Yes, we have an anime that's already finished. We don't need you to pay for the production. We only have one condition: give us a fixed time slot and don't interrupt it with GG."

He listened to the phone call for a while.

"Okay, I'll send you the broadcast tape and subtitles in the next day or the day after. Thank you."

After hanging up the phone, he continued to browse through his contacts.

"A senior colleague from Hokkaido Broadcasting works there in a technical role. I met a producer from Shizuoka Broadcasting at a Jump event last year. A colleague from the Fukuoka Broadcasting editorial department is from there; his father is an advisor to a local station."

They made phone calls one after another.

Sometimes it takes a long time to explain, sometimes the other party will refuse directly, and sometimes the other party will say that they need to report to their superiors.

After each company is contacted, a circle is drawn on the list.

After each rejection, he would write the reason next to it.

Shiori Shirakawa quietly recorded each family's information into a folder.

Confirmed results are marked in blue, those awaiting a response are marked in yellow, and those rejected are marked in red.

She looked up and glanced at Ryota Onodera.

I put the folder down and then went to the kitchen.

After a while, she placed a bowl of freshly heated miso soup next to Ryota Onodera.

Ryota Onodera didn't look up; he just kept drinking water from his bowl and then made a phone call.

Two hours later, the list showed 7 blue dots, 12 yellow dots, and 4 red crosses.

"Seven companies have been confirmed."

After putting down his pen, Ryota Onodera sat down in a chair.

"There are also twelve other companies waiting for a response. These seven companies cover Hokkaido, Tohoku, Chubu, Kansai and Kyushu regions, and together they account for about 25% of the national viewership."

"That's enough."

Yuma Kamiya said.

"There's still a long way to go."

Shiori Shirakawa continued to the next page of the folder.

"Professor Fujita said that the independent cinema in Kyoto has set a premiere date, but they only have 200 seats. If it's full, there will only be 200 people. After these 200 people watch the movie, word of mouth can spread. If the ratings of local TV stations' late-night slots increase as a result, more local stations will join us."

"Then let's start with these two hundred people."

Fujita knew as soon as he received the call.

Color correction is being performed on the first episode.

Because her due date was approaching, Xiaolin was forced by her husband to go to her parents' home in Yokohama to prepare for childbirth.

Currently, color grading is being done by Yamazaki.

Yamazaki used the parameters left by Kobayashi on the color palette that Kobayashi had used to calibrate Freylan Blue.

He tried all three versions, but was not satisfied with any of them.

"How did Kobayashi get that blue one?"

Yamazaki looked at the computer screen and put a pencil into his ear.

"She put a photo on the color mixing table."

Nono's head poked out from the studio.

"This is a photo she took four years ago in front of a convenience store. The setting sun turned the convenience store sign red, and the cobalt blue and orange-red blended together. She said that this blue was as warm as Frillie's blue."

Where is this photo now?

"She took it with her and put it in her bag on her way back to Yokohama. She said she was afraid it would get lost if she left it in the warehouse."